U.S. Was Excluded From Rights Panel by Nations It Criticized, Rice Says : Bush Aide Calls UN Vote an 'Outrage'

WASHINGTON— Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. national security adviser, called it "an outrage" Sunday that the United States had been voted off the United Nations Human Rights Commission, but she blamed it on countries that had felt the sting of U.S. rights criticism, not on allies irritated with the Bush administration.

The United States failed last week for the first time to win a seat on the commission that was created in 1947. Terms on the panel run for three years.

Some diplomats attributed the vote to irritation by other countries with what they consider U.S. unilateralism on issues including missile defense, climate change and AIDS drugs. Others said that the U.S. delegation, temporarily without a permanent representative, had done too little lobbying.

Ms. Rice, speaking on Fox-TV, said that the setback came because U.S. leadership on rights had been "too strong" for some countries.

"I suspect that this was a backlash of those who don't like being judged, that perhaps the United States has been a little too active on the human rights commission," she said. "Maybe it will be easier now for human rights abusers to escape scrutiny."

U.S. officials said earlier that the United States had received assurances of support from at least 40 countries, but that only 29 of them had voted for U.S. representation.

Austria, France and Sweden were elected to the three seats reserved for Western countries, while Sudan and Libya, both of which the United States considers as supporters of terrorism, won seats in regional groups.

Ms. Rice offered no criticism of the Europeans, however, though their support could have been crucial. Rather, she said that the United States would now look to others on the commission to press the causes dear to the United States.

"I hope that the Europeans and other democratic states that remain will take up this mantle and be certain that the human rights message is as strong as it has been," she said.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the UN vote "notably unwise." But he accepted the vote as reflecting a historic shift in the world's view of U.S. leadership.

Mr. Rumsfeld said that during the Cold War "there was a great deal of gratitude in the world" for U.S. resistance to the spread of communism. Now, he said, "that gratitude is gone," and once-loyal allies are becoming more outspoken.

Regarding world reaction to President George W. Bush's missile-defense proposal, both Mr. Rumsfeld and Ms. Rice said that they were encouraged by Russian reaction to it.

There is concern in many European capitals that a unilateral U.S. decision to abrogate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, to clear the way for such a defensive system, would anger the Russians and could contribute to a new arms race.

The two Bush administration officials did not renounce the possibility of a unilateral move, but they said they believed that a mutual agreement with Moscow was possible.

"The assumption that Russia will ultimately not agree, I think, is not a good one," Mr. Rumsfeld said.

Ms. Rice said that she had been "very impressed and, indeed, heartened by Vladimir Putin's words welcoming a constructive dialogue with the United States." She described the Russian president's reaction as "very upbeat."

Both officials also denied reports that Mr. Rumsfeld had ordered a suspension of all military-to-military contacts with China until Ms. Rice, presumably backed by the president, had demanded a retraction. The Defense Department ultimately said that it would review such contacts case by case.

Mr. Rumsfeld portrayed the flap as a misunderstanding between himself and a deputy, Christopher Williams, adding, "It is every bit as much my fault" as Mr. Williams's.

Asked whether he had been told by Ms. Rice to "rescind this," he replied: "That is flat not true. Condoleezza Rice never indicated that, and anyone who says it is wrong."